Having just visited Paris a few months ago, I took the opportunity to stuff my face with just about every pastry in sight. It was research, after-all. When I was mid-stream in my sugar rush, I decided to stop into a small bakery that was about to start a macaron-making class.
The pastry gods certainly had thrown this opportunity right into my excessively-hyper arms. I had made macarons before at home. By made, I mean I had spent days upon days destroying hundreds of years of beautifully crafted french culinary history in mere moments.
But then it sorta started to work out. This class was my ticket to ridding myself of the horrid uncertainty that a batch would make it through. Sorta like a Wonka Golden Ticket without the tiny Loompas. The Chef was a bit short, though…. Now… There are SO many different ways that people will tell you to make a proper macaron.
Does drying the egg whites really help? Should you fold this many or that many times? Because I find that this is what intimidates people the most, I did a few experiments at home. I kept my controls controlled, variables varied. Baking is a science, remember? Macarons are made with almonds, egg whites, sugar. Almond flour is simply raw almonds that have been finely ground into a flour-like textured mix.
Go ahead and do this like times. Dump any large bits of almond back into your bag and use it for something else. That accounts for the tiny bits on the shells.
You can find it here. You can also make your own almond meal with a good processor, almond and the sugar to keep it from turning to paste. Be sure you are using a kitchen scale for all of this and all of your baking, really. US measurements vary so much depending on the user and the product being measured.
Weigh everything out. This is mandatory. I would really encourage you to start weighing everything when you bake. After you separate the eggs into whites and yolks, toss the yolks away to use for something else. Be sure you have let your eggs come to room temperature before you plan to use them. Have a drink. Wait a few minutes. No big. All of it. I promise. NOW… Here is where I hypothesize most people make their mistakes.
Fold and pull the spatula around the bowl. I find that many people do this incorrectly. Lightly, but with great confidence, take your rubber spatula and roll it around the batter in the bowl and fold the mixture over itself. Trust me here! Keep going. You want to do this and then when it is coming together, start to drag pressing the batter against the sides the mixture around the bowl.
This is called the macaronage. They are absolutely wrong. Plain and simple. You have to deflate the mixture or you will end up with hollow, cracked, improperly shaped cookies. You want the air to be evenly distributed, but you also need the batter at the right viscosity with that air inside.
Unfortunately, this process just takes time to recognize the proper consistency. It should end up like thick lava. Pat yourself on the back and have another drink. Speaking of piping… I consider myself pretty a pretty good shot with a piping bag. However, you really want all of these shells to line up perfectly to create a symmetrical sweet sandwich.
With all of this trial and error mostly error , I found that the absolute best choice is a simple parchment paper. The delicate macarons tend to stick to silicone, the macaron mat molds are USELESS, and the paper gives you the ability to pull it off of the cookies if needed.
I looked around for a while to figure out how to make sure I pipe each circle just like the last. There are some templates out there, but nothing that really hit home with me. So, being the total nerd that I am…. Printed out, I found that you can place this under parchment paper and trace the outlines. You can then flip it and pipe away.
After a bunch of these, I also finally figured out that you could just place it under the paper and pipe, moving the paper over to pipe more. MUCH more convenient. Printable 1. The template gives you a bullseye for piping aim and a few guidelines to ensure consistently size cookies.
If your batter is correctly folded, you should be able to pipe, holding the bag an inch above the paper , until it reaches the outer edge of the inside circle. Drop the pan evenly like Missy drops a beat. Repeat several times. Then do it once more. This ensures that all of the bubbles make their way out of the batter.
Some will say at this point, you need to rest the macarons forever. Others will say that you can pop them directly into the oven. I was taught to rest the shells and tend to agree with this, having had poor results without resting the piped rounds. I recommend just letting them sit for 30 minutes on the baking sheets. You will notice that they harden and appear a bit glossy already.
This is good! Resting the shells will force the macarons to bake upward and not outward. This is what is responsible for forming the iconic shape of each cookie. Heat the oven. Put the macarons into the oven. Let them cool completely before you attempt to poke or grab them off of the sheets. These things are delicate, ya know?!
Finally— We are finished. They take time, effort, and whole lot of love. It took me several batches before they ended up working for me when I started making them. These are the basic macaron shells that you can play with to create any flavor combinations that you can think of. Macaron Items I Use. Your email address will not be published. Upload attachment Allowed file types: jpg , maximum file size: 20MB.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. You can! Frozen berries actually work really well in buttercream recipes. Just watch and check for it to be stiff enough. You can add some additional powdered sugar if the water content in the berries makes it thinner than needed. I made them tonight for the first time ever, and there were big feet!
I found that paying attention to detail is the main thing. This is a cookie that must be made with love. Thank you thank you thank you! First time success! I must still practise my piping. Once again thank very much. I only searched for The paper, ended up reading the entire story! Have an awesome day! What do I do?
Whenever I make macarons, they look pretty and have nice feet, but they always come out hollow. What is the ideal number of times to tap them to remove the bubbles, fold the batter and whisk so that the peaks are nice and stiff?
Thank you so much for the tips! So I tried making for the first time and I used super fine almond flour. I put it with the confectioners sugar in a food processor and then sifted but I still have little tiny dark almond chunks…Would this be the type of almond flour or am I doing something wrong? Thank you!!! Thank you for the template and all the detailed tips!
I am making these for my oldest grandson today for his Christmas gift, Macaroons are his favorite. I have read several different pages but yours was so straight forward! Really appreciate that! I will let you know how it goes. Thank you, thank you! You have a new follower. Will post pics later. Honestly , i wish i could eat these lil beauties right off the screen.. They are absolutely gorgeous and give me courage to finally stop being afraid and try them. The Unicorn and Blueberry ones give me life..
Just amazing. Great post BTW and thanks for the template. I have been doing A LOT of research before settling on your recipe. It just made sense to me. Wish me luck!! Chocolate macarons require a bit more adapting of the recipe since you are adding some fat when you add chocolate. I have a great chocolate shell in a brownie macaron recipe and am just realizing that I never posted it.
In the meantime, you can typically replace 25g of the almond flour in this recipe with a good quality Dutch processed chocolate powder. Some cocoa powder can be acidic and can affect the rise in bad ways. My suggestion for other flavors is to add fresh zest to the sugar in the shell portion and place sugar and almond flour in a food processor and blitz it a few times.
You can use extracts that are very concentrated, but be light with that as it can really ruin the shells quickly. I tried last night, for the first time, to replicate the ones on the Mandalorian.
My oven died in the middle of it. So I switched it to my countertop convection. They puffed a little. By now it was 12 PM. I just took out the silicon mat, crumpled into my convection oven, and went to bed saying I would make the filling tomorrow. My college students are the macarons.
All that effort and nothing for it. Though I think I overbeat them. I loved this post! I will also try but she whole flour and powdered sugar mixture in all at once…. I am attempting my second batch today with your words of wisdom. Yesterdays batch were edible but not quite correct. Must continue to perfection. Thank you for the humor. We all need that. I follow everything exactly but not having a lot of success. Do you have any suggestions?
Hollow macs can be a result of a number of issues, but usually goes back to the folding, and oven temp. Folding the meringue is almost always where the issues lie. When you fold, press the batter against the side of the bowl. You are likely not getting enough of the air out of the batter prior to baking. Follow that by a good several bangs to release air bubbles.
If you still get hollows, drop your temp by degrees and try again. My guess is that if you fold more appropriately, it will fix it.
Good luck! My question is after everything is all done. What are your storing suggestions? Should we really eat it right away or is it supposed to go in the fridge for a couple days before eating? Thank you again for the detailed tips and template. Storage-wise, you have a few options. They taste best when you toss them in the fridge overnight, bring them out and let them come to room temperature before enjoying.
You can leave them in the fridge for several days with good results. At room temperature storage, they will not last as long. I like to freeze mine.
They will last for quite a long time in the freezer. You can freeze them filled and assembled. They can be brought out of the freezer straight to room temp and be ready in 30 minutes or so. With all of these suggestions, I recommend using an airtight container to store. I would love to make some macarons and your post has given me the confidence to try.
I would appreciate any other tips, too! If I wanted to put sprinkles on top like you did, how do you get them to stick? Thanks so much! I, unfortunately, over-baked mine but otherwise they turned up pretty good for my first attempt.
Thank you for the template. I am going to try to make macarons tomorrow! Wish me luck! Used your recipe for Macarons today.. I made two lots using your recipe and both lots turned out exactly the same. Great feet!
Sooooo, I made macarons with my sister for the first time a while ago. Like really good. Our macarons almost looked professional. This recipe is really good and the information above helped a lot. Thank you so much for this recipe and all your efforts in trial and error.
I have used your recipe before and have made perfect macarons. Your step by step guide is well explained and easy to understand, Thank you again!
I am so glad I found your post! I have never had a macaron, ever. I am especially grateful for the template. I hope to be able to be good enough to show off on the 4th of July. Thanks again! Thank you for these wonderful instructions. I love the challenge. Your tips will make my attempts much more successful! Great blog post! I found it to be very informative. I made some macs the other day and was so excited before they went in the oven and they looked great when they were done baking.
I felt so defeated though when I bit into one and saw a hollow shell, as well as, in the rest of the batch. Quarantine pushed me to take this opportunity to learn! What tip are you using as you pipe? Loved the entire post! Sorry about that.
It is definitely confusing. It will work without that step, but incorporates better if you do. Thank you for this thorough post.
I feel confident I can take these on. I have not ever attempted to make macaroons, but when in quarantine one must try! Love your website name too! One of my favs! Lemme know how they turn out. I tried another recipe before I found yours and they turned out okay but not great.
Your recipe and templet worked perfect! Thank you sooo much! Love it! Thanks so much for sharing the photo. I love seeing what people can make.
Glad it worked out for you! My family ha s recently gained our love for macarons and my daughter is really excited to try to make them. Wish us luck! Okay they are out of the oven and I am beyond excited — 1 — that they look pretty good and 2 your instructions were amazing. They are cooling but I had to post a picture of my coral macarons, I need to work on size consistency. Thank you so much for taking the time to detail out the the good, the bad and the ugly of making these….
I did it! It was my first time trying and they came out amazingly! I even got the feet! Follow the instructions all the tips and tricks above the recipe to the letter and you, too, can make these impossible treats. In other news, your blog is the only one I could actually read without scrolllling forever to get to the recipe. So glad to hear that. I know the scrolling struggle. I try my best to make those words worth a glance.
You mentioned almond meal and then in the Ingredients section said almond flour! These are two different things! Can I use the almond meal? Good point. You can use either, but know that the more fine your almond source is, the better your macarons will look. Recipe will certainly worth with either, though. Oh my these are tricky little devils. First batch awful.
If the feet are puffing out too far for your liking, you just need to beat the whites a bit less and be a bit less gently with your folding. Looks pretty good! I am going to attempt your recipe tomorrow. They all taste good but always have the thin top shells and soft in the middle.
I tried a silicone mat today and they were more soft on the inside and did not want to come off the mat. Help would be greatly appropriated. Love all the good information in here! Any tips for high elevation macaron baking?
I just read another blog that talked about high elevation issues. She said it helped but she still had some hollow places, and that using the Italian method pouring hot sugar syrup into the egg whites apparently works better for high altitude also. I think you may want to Google for yourself and see if there are any other tips. I know that, in Ohio, what has helped me the most to be successful was the right recipe, the right meringue, getting my macaronage correct, and knowing my oven temps.
Good luck — the journey is totally worth the results! Hi there, aspiring macaron artist here. Today will be my third attempt at making these finicky little delights. I weigh everything out. Any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I really want to try it.
And your way of explaining is commendable. Have you tried this? Thank you for breaking it down and the tip on weighing ingredients I think that made the difference. Thanks for giving us the good and bad of macarons… I am going to give it a first try.. Will let you know my results. It could be a number of things, really. First, I would highly recommend an oven thermometer to check your oven temperature. Baking too hot can be a cause of spreading like this. Most ovens are not at the correct temperature that you may think you are baking at.
After that, verify that the egg white weight was correct. Incorrect ratio in the recipe can effect the spread. Did you let them sit before baking? Depending on the humidity in your home and environment, you may have better results with a longer rest. You should be able to tap the top with a finger and it not stick. Lastly, and often the most common issue after oven temperature, is mixing.
Check that oven temp and let me know if that helps. Everything went well for my first try. I did fail at getting the consistency right, however. Needed to fold just a little more. Thank you for your detailed instructions. I am confident I will get it right next time. The last blog I read had me scared to death — yours makes me ready to jump right in.
My 10 year old wants to try her our! Should I borrow Or validate buying one?! Sorry for the delay on this! I have seen so many scary blog posts, which is one big reason why I wanted to post this. Those are two different ingredients on purpose. The superfine is used in Step 3 and the confectioners in Step 5. Love your flow with words, the teaching and guide through are thorough and very enjoyable to read.
Please write a book! Thank you, Barbara! Keep an eye out in the new year, maybe! Thank you for all the info. It just seemed way too scary. But you are not speaking a foreign language! I think you just took the scary out of it. Depends on my mood, really. Sometimes, I will strain them out.
This is an fantastic recipe and I am so glad that you put it online! I am sure all my neighbors and friends will love them. I do have a question though, if you have extra batter is it ok to store in the refrigerator for about an hour so you can make the macarons later?
Glad you are enjoying it! For just an hour, you can leave it out at room temperature, I think. Ideally use it all, but an hour may be ok. Let me know how it goes. Lots of recipes for other macarons are on the blog. I really want to try and make these but was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Your post helped me understand all of the tips and tricks to making macarons! Just gotta jump into it! Great information, Phillip—thanks! My question is about the waiting time after finishing the macarons. They are certainly best after resting overnight.
You can also freeze them easily, but be sure to move them to the fridge to thaw slowly. What time and temperature is required? I did them for C for 25 minutes but it made my macarons to have brown top. I used the top and bottom heat function. I developed this recipe using an electric oven as well. I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer like this one.
I would check that and also try reducing your temperature by 10 degrees and moving your baking sheet one level lower.
It is almost always the oven temperature, though. They can be tricky! Are you weighing your ingredients or measuring with cups? If weighing, you are probably mixing too much if they are spreading that much. This post is fantastic! I teach baking classes and would love to make reference to your site and techniques!!!
I would think that would be the best way to get better at making them. I started to post a comment to you a few days ago but got called away. I see it now. Just sent a reply. I have been messing around with them for a few years, off and on. It is a challenge that I want to master! Practice practice practice. Appreciate any ideas, wisdom, technique advice…Thanks again! If you have too many air pockets in the meringue when you put them in the oven, the air expands and the steam has to escape somewhere.
That is at the weakest point, which means it rises up and then blows out the sides. This coloring page activity is perfect for kids and grown ups, and for families to work on together! Bucket lists are so much fun and are a great way to spend time together during the month of October! Keep reading for all of the included activities and to download your very own Free Halloween Bucket List!
Last year, I had a ton of requests for a color-your-own Bucket List to match my series of printable bucket lists. Every year my kids and I like to plan a list of a few activities to prep for Halloween, or to do on Halloween night.
Halloween is one of our most favorite holidays and we enjoy every bit of spooky season. Some of our favorite activities include baking cookies, carving pumpkins, and of course, Trick or Treating! The Halloween season is generally a busy one in our house, so we like to plan quick activities that we can do as a family.
Coloring pages are one of the easiest ways to engage my kids or keep them quiet! I made this free download a coloring page on purpose, moms! You can color in the activities as you complete them, or just use it as a coloring sheet for a quiet activity on a rainy day. Everyone always asks which printer I use. I have this Canon craft printer that I love!
A 2-inch macaron template is a great tool to use for special events and occasions. Since they are slightly larger, they look great as a macaron tower or in gift boxes. These are popular at bridal showers and other formal events because they look more formal than cupcakes.
We also have a blank copy of the 2 inch macaron template with no targets. Pick which ever you prefer. How exactly do you hide a heart-shaped macaron? Using a medium tip gently squeeze a dollop of macaroon batter in the upper round corner of the heart. We have marked this area on the first heart of our template. Pipe steadily on a slant while decreasing the amount of pressure as you move further down.
There is an arrow to indicate the stopping point on the heart. You want to repeat on the second half of the heart. The trick to getting the heart-shaped correct is that you need to stop typing quickly a way to stop typing faster so quickly move the tip upward toward the center.
Your heart-shaped macaron does not look perfect at this point and that is where the final step comes in. The last step is to use a toothpick to pop and smooth out any air pockets.
We want to hear from you before or after you bake macarons. Which printable macaron template did you choose for your supplies? How did they come out? Please tell us what you think in the comments.
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